As we all know, the coronavirus impact has been seen in every little detail of our daily lives, especially the way we use technology and spend our time.
#Chinese mobile games have seen a remarkable expansion in the overseas market throughout 2020 as the pandemic has driven a booming stay-at-home economy, data from the mobile research firm Sensor Tower shows this week.@SensorTower
— CGTN Global Business (@CGTNGlobalBiz) February 8, 2021
More: https://t.co/FLtJNVTVEr pic.twitter.com/HStVkSeKK5
Exploring the different changes resulting from the unusual year of attempts to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak, one must stop at the too many hours we spent using our smartphones, particularly when it comes to games.
It is no secret that most of us have been trying to find ways that can help us pass the many long hours we spend at home with little to no recreational activities available, due to the closures imposed following the viral outbreak. Besides hours of working from home or studying online, we have had most of our days to ourselves and we try to enjoy our times as much as can.
The growing popularity of platforms like Discord and Roblox is changing attitudes about screen time for teens, who found refuge online long before the pandemic. Where the Teens Are Hanging Out in Quarantine by Alexandra Lange / @CityLab https://t.co/qMSq7MKrAf pic.twitter.com/6pYbPYXL8s
— Melissa Lim (@actionhero) February 9, 2021
This is why the consumption of interactive games has spiked during the last year.
According to New York Times, the use of Roblox, an online game platform popular amongst kids (9-12 years old) has grown by 82% by September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, with about 31.1 million active users every day.
A report by GameAnalytics on the number of mobile gamers in Q1 2020 revealed that 1.75 billion people have been playing mobile games per month compared to 1.2 billion in 2019, marking an increase of 46%.
Newzoo's estimations for the mobile games market expected a 13.3% rise in revenue, one that is expected to hit $77.2.
Game maker Roblox's value rockets seven-fold during pandemic https://t.co/8fYiC7msHI #Technology pic.twitter.com/1jftxzeVT0
— Nigel Fenwick (@NigelFenwick) February 13, 2021
According to Newzoon's report, and despite the mobile gaming market being generally dominated by China, the US, and Japan, the consumption of mobile games has been significantly high in mobile-first markets, including those in the Middle East.
The report also expected the number of mobile gamers from the Middle East and other emerging markets in the developing world to continue on the rise, justifying this by the fact that smartphones are becoming more and more affordable in this part of the world, in addition to the fact that the teen and youth population are amongst the highest in the region.
Have you been amongst online gamers during the COVID-19 crisis? How much time did you spend playing mobile games compared to other activities during lockdowns?
